Progress Energy was an energy company headquartered in Raleigh, N.C. which has more than 21,000 megawatts of generation capacity from 36 sites in the Carolinas, Florida and Georgia and $9 billion in annual revenues. The company owned "two major utilities that serve more than 3.1 million customers in the Carolinas and Florida".[2]

Ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council

Progress Energy has been a corporate member of the American Legislative Exchange Council.[5] ALEC listed the company as part of its Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force until it allegedly terminated its membership on January 14, 2013 because its "merged with Duke; new contacts" (Duke remained an ALEC member), according to an August 2013 board document obtained by The Guardian.[6]

ALEC is a corporate bill mill. It is not just a lobby or a front group; it is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, corporations hand state legislators their wishlists to benefit their bottom line. Corporations fund almost all of ALEC's operations. They pay for a seat on ALEC task forces where corporate lobbyists and special interest reps vote with elected officials to approve “model” bills. Learn more at the Center for Media and Democracy's ALECexposed.org, and check out breaking news on our PRWatch.org site.

Merger with Duke Energy

On January 9, 2011, Duke Energy said it agreed to buy Progress Energy for $13.7 billion in stock, creating the largest U.S. power company if it wins approval from regulators in North and South Carolina. The transaction would create an industry giant with approximately 7.1 million electricity customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio, and 57,000 megawatts of generating capacity. State regulators have sought concessions from large power companies planning to merge, such as rate reductions.[7]

The combined companies would form the single largest utility in the United States.[8]

In hearings before the NC Utilities Commission in September, 2011, a variety of organizations objected to the merger.[9] The merger would mean "increased emissions from coal-fired generation" with an increase of 9.5 million MWH of coal-fired generation over the first five years after the merger ... and would also result in the creation of a dominant procurer of renewable energy that would limit the pool of renewable energy developers. [10] Critics suggested requiring Duke / Progress to generate more renewable energy, to provide more protection for the poor against future rate increases, to commit to investments in energy conservation and smart-grid technologies, to allow solar-panel owners to sell electricity directly to consumers rather than only to utilities, and to unlink electric company profits from the amount of power sold.[11]

FERC and anti-trust concerns: On Sept. 30, 2011, the [Federal Energy Regulatory Commission found that the merger would adversely impact competition in the North Carolina energy market. The company will have until Dec. 1, 2011, to address concerns. [12] FERC said the concerns with competitiveness were especially serious in Eastern North Carolina. [13]

The merger went into effect on July 2, 2012. Progress CEO Bill Johnson assumed the CEO position at the combined company, signing a three-year contract. One day later, on July 3, Johnson resigned. Regardless, Johnson will receive exit payments worth as much as $44.4 million, according to Duke regulatory filings. Johnson’s replacement is former Duke CEO Jim Rogers.[14]

Lobbying and Congressional campaign contributions

Progress Energy is one of the largest energy company contributors to both Republican and Democratic candidates for Congress. These contributions total $271,300 to the 110th US Congress (as of the third quarter), the largest of which has been to Rep. John Spratt, Jr. (D-SC) for $10,000. Rep. Spratt, for his part, has been a supporter of coal companies, having voted in their interests on energy, war and climate bills.[1]

Contributions like this from fossil fuel companies to members of Congress are often seen as a political barrier to pursuing clean energy.

Negative tax rate

A 2011 analysis by Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, "Corporate Taxpayers & Corporate Tax Dodgers: 2008-10" found dozens of companies, including fossil fuels, used tax breaks and various tax dodging methods to have a negative tax balance between 2008 and 2010, while making billions in profits. The study found 32 companies in the fossil-fuel industry -- such as Peabody Energy, ConEd, and PG&E -- transformed a tax responsibility of $17.3 billion on $49.4 billion in pretax profits into a tax benefit of $6.5 billion, for a net gain of $24 billion.

EPA releases list of 44 "high hazard" coal ash dumps

WLOS: Coal Ash Dust near Progress Energy's Asheville coal plant

In response to demands from environmentalists as well as Senator Barbara Boxer (D-California), chair of the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works, the EPA made public a list of 44 "high hazard potential" coal waste dumps. The rating applies to sites at which a dam failure would most likely cause loss of human life, but does not include an assessment of the likelihood of such an event. Progress Energy owns two of the sites, both of which store coal combustion waste for the Asheville Plant located in North Carolina.[16][17] To see the full list of sites, see Coal waste.

September 2010: Progress coal ash pond fails

On September 28, 2010, a portion of one of Progress Energy's coal ash ponds at its Sutton Steam Plant along U.S. 421 North failed – although officials aren't sure if persistent rainfall was the cause. The coal waste sites include the Sutton Steam Plant 1971 Pond and the Sutton Steam Plant 1984 Pond. The breach, which sent clay and dry ash cascading down to the toe of the raised embankment, is an estimated 8 feet deep and about 22 feet wide. An estimated 10 cubic yards of coal ash covering an acre was released.[18]

Spokesman Scott Sutton said crews found the damage, which they initially thought was a sinkhole, late Monday night while inspecting the dam: "It basically carved out about 9 feet off the top of the dam, so its not a total breach or collapse." Sutton said crews had installed a temporary patch, including rocks and soil, to prevent the breach from growing while waiting for the next wave of heavy rains – expected to start Wednesday – to pass through the region. A permanent fix will then be designed and installed.[18]

The breach in one of the Sutton Plant's two unlined coal-ash ponds came as federal and state regulators are taking a new look at whether to reclassify coal ash as a hazardous material under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. According to the N.C. Division of Water Quality, other industries also had difficulties handling the monsoon-like rainfall. Fortron Industries, DAK Americas, Invista, and the New Hanover County landfill all reported stormwater overwhelming their treatment and storage systems, with some reporting the runoff escaping into the wetlands and waters of the Cape Fear River.[18]

In January 2009, Sue Sturgis of the Institute of Southern Studies compiled a list of the 100 most polluting coal plants in the United States in terms of coal combustion waste (CCW) stored in surface impoundments like the one involved in the TVA Kingston Fossil Plant coal ash spill. The data came from the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) for 2006, the most recent year available.[19] Progress's Sutton Steam Plant ranked number 55 on the list, with 548,210 pounds of coal combustion waste released to surface impoundments in 2006.[20]

In October 2009, Appalachian Voices released an analysis of monitoring data from coal waste ponds at 13 coal plants in North Carolina. The study revealed that all of them are contaminating ground water with toxic pollutants, in some cases with over 350 times the allowable levels according to state standards. The contaminants include the toxic metals arsenic, cadmium, chromium, and lead, which can cause cancer and neurological disorders. The study was based on data submitted by Progress and Duke Energy to state regulators. The North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources is attempting to confirm the results before determining whether current state law can mandate corrective action.[21]

Lawyer says Progress owes Florida customers for overpriced coal

On February 24, 2009, the attorney for Florida's utility customers announced a case against Progress Energy, alleging that the company owes its 1.7 million customers a $61 million refund for overpriced coal used during 2006 and 2007. According to Public Counsel J.R. Kelly, Progress could have avoided extra costs by burning less expensive coal, but the company failed to secure a permit to do so.

The counsel's office has filed a request with the Florida PSC to order Progress to refund the money. Hearings will begin in April, and a decision should come in June 2009. Progress Energy Florida lost a similar case before the PSC in 2007, when the commission ordered the company to refund $13.8 million for buying more expensive coal from 2003 to 2005.[22]

Power portfolio

Out of its total 28,019 MW of electric generating capacity in 2005 (2.63% of the U.S. total), Progress Energy produced 39.2% from natural gas, 28.3% from coal, 15.9% from oil, 15.7% from nuclear, and 0.8% from hydroelectricity. Progress Energy owns power plants in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.[23]

Coal Plant Closures

Crystal River to close by 2020, replaced by nuclear plant

In December 2008, Progress Energy Florida announced it will close two of the state's worst polluting coal-fired generators when its new Levy County nuclear plant is up and running in 2020. The company said the closure of two units at its Crystal River Energy Complex in Citrus County represents the equivalent of removing 830,000 vehicles from Florida's roads. The decision follows months of talks with state officials, including Gov. Charlie Crist and Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael W. Sole, said Progress Energy Florida chief executive Jeff Lyash. Crist has hoped to reduce state carbon dioxide emissions to the 1990 level by 2025. The scheduled closure of the two Crystal River plants means the company would be 60 percent of the way toward the governor's goal, according to Progress Energy officials. Independent studies have listed the two coal plants among the nation's top 50 polluters.[24]

The energy created by the two Crystal River coal plants, which opened in 1966 and 1969, will be replaced by the new nuclear plant set to be built at a cost of $17-billion in Levy County. Two coal-fired power generators will remain in operation at the Citrus County site, as will a nuclear reactor. Progress Energy will spend $1.3-billion installing air emission-reduction equipment at the two remaining coal-fired plants. Early in 2007, Progress Energy won approval to raise bills 25 percent starting in January to pay for higher 2008 fuel costs and for early costs of the $17-billion nuclear project. The nuclear charge will add about $13 a month to the bill of the average residential customer, about 10 percent more.[24]

Progress Energy announces plan to close Lee coal plant

On August 18, 2009, Progress Energy announced a plan to close 3 units at its Lee Steam Plant in North Carolina. The company is seeking regulatory approval to build a new natural gas-fired plant at the site. As proposed, the new plant would increase generation capacity at the site by about 550 megawatts, while still reducing overall emissions, including carbon dioxide. The project will cost an estimated $900 million, and is expected to be operational in 2013.[25] North Carolina State regulators approved the plan on October 1.[26]

Progress Energy announces plan to shut more N.C. coal plants

On December 1, 2009, Progress announced that by the end of 2017 it would permanently close all of its North Carolina coal plants without sulfur dioxide scrubbers. The 11 units at L.V. Sutton, Cape Fear, Weatherspoon, and Lee total almost 1,500 megawatts and represent about a third of the utility's coal-fired power generation in N.C. The retirement plan includes the following:

Lee is scheduled for retirement in 2013.

Sutton is slated for closure in 2014. Progress hopes to replace it with a natural gas-fired power plant.

Cape Fear and Weatherspoon will be shut down between 2013 and 2017. The company is considering converting 50 to 150MW of the total capacity to burn wood waste. Witherspoon was scheduled to be closed Oct. 22, 2011. [27]

The closure plan was filed in response to a request by the N.C. Utilities Commission, which ordered Progress to provide its retirement schedule for "unscrubbed" coal-fired units in North Carolina. The request was a condition of the commission's approval of Progress' plan to close Lee and build a 950-MW natural gas plant at the site.[28][29]

After the merger of Duke Energy and Progress Energy, Progress Energy Carolinas announced in July 2012 that it would be accelerating the closing of the Robinson Unit 1 coal plant by October 2012, but it would remain online through the summer season to help meet heightened electricity demand.[30]

In 2006, Progress Energy's 9 coal-fired power plants emitted 52.8 million tons of CO2 (0.88% of all U.S. CO2 emissions) and 277,000 tons of SO2 (1.85% of all U.S. SO2 emissions).

On December 1, 2009, Progress Energy announced that by 2017 it will be shutting down all of its coal-fired power plants that do not have flue-gas desulfurization controls (scrubbers). In all, four plants will be affected with a total of 11 coal-fired units. The plants that will be shut down are the Sutton Steam Plant near Wilmington, the Cape Fear Steam Plant near Monroe, the Weatherspoon Plant near Lumberton and the Lee Steam Plant near Goldsboro.[34]

Coal and oil plants

Asheville Plant, a two-unit 376 megawatt power station located at Skyland, North Caorlina.

Bartow Plant, a three unit 444 megawatt power station located near St. Petersburg, Florida;

Cape Fear Plant is a two-unit coal fired station that generates 317 megawatts and is located near Moncure, North Carolina.

Crystal River is a four-unit power station that produces 2,310 megawatts. The site also includes the Crystal River Nuclear Plant capable of producing 838 megawatt;

the Lee Plant is a 399 megawatt power station located on the Neuss River near Goldsboro, North Carolina, that also includes four small combustion turbines capable of producing 75 MW;

Mayo is a single-unit power station which generates 742 megawatts and is located near Roxboro, North Carolina.

the Robinson Plant is a single-unit, 176-megawatt power station located near Hartsville, South Carolina. This site also includes the Robinson Nuclear Plant and one small combustion turbine;

the Roxboro Steam Plant is a four-unite power station that produces 2,443 megawatts and is located near Roxboro, North Carolina;

the Sutton Plant is a three-unit 598 megawatt power station located near Wilmington, N.C., on a site that also includes three small combustion turbines.

Suwannee Plant is a three-unit 129 megawatt power station located near Ellaville, Florida. The site also includes three combustion turbines capable of producing 153 MW;

the Weatherspoon Plant is a three-unit, 173 megawatt power station located near Lumberton, North Carolina and also includes four combustion turbines capable of producing 132 megawatts. It was scheduled to be closed Oct. 22, 2011. [36]

Proposed new plants

Progress Energy is proposing to spend between $700 million to $750 million on the construction of additional combined-cycle generating plant at its existing Richmond County Energy Complex south of Hamlet. The 570 megawatt unit is proposed to be completed by June 2011.[37]

In mid-December 2006, Progress Energy announced that it had selected a site for a new nuclear power station in Levy County, eight miles north of the company’s Crystal River Energy Complex. The media release stated that a decision to proceed "won't be made for a year or longer."[38]

Coal waste

Lawsuit over 14 coal ash pits

On January 8, 2013, conservation groups Cape Fear River Watch, Sierra Club, Waterkeeper Alliance, and Western North Carolina Alliance filed a lawsuit against the state Environmental Management Commission, Duke Energy, and Progress Energy seeking the cleanup or shut-down of 14 coal ash pits. The suit challenges a ruling in December 2012 by the Environmental Management Commission, which voted 9-2 that Duke and Progress ash pits were subject to less stringent regulations and were therefore not out of compliance with groundwater contamination standards. The groups argue that monitoring by Progress Energy shows persistent groundwater contamination, including arsenic levels above state standards, at the company’s Asheville Plant and Sutton Steam Plant. Sampling at 12 other coal-fired plants, the litigants contend, also show contamination.[39]

Asheville ranked 69th on list of most polluting power plants in terms of coal waste

In January 2009, Sue Sturgis of the Institute of Southern Studies compiled a list of the 100 most polluting coal plants in the United States in terms of coal combustion waste (CCW) stored in surface impoundments like the one involved in the TVA Kingston Fossil Plant coal ash spill.[20] The data came from the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) for 2006, the most recent year available.[40]

Progress Energy's Asheville Plant ranked number 69 on the list, with 411,793 pounds of coal combustion waste released to surface impoundments in 2006.[20]

"High Hazard" Surface Impoundments

Two of Asheville Plant's coal ash surface impoundments are on EPA's official June 2009 list of Coal Combustion Residue (CCR) Surface Impoundments with High Hazard Potential Ratings. The rating applies to sites at which a dam failure would most likely cause loss of human life, but does not assess of the likelihood of such an event.[41]

Flyover description

In March 2010, pilot J. Henry Fair flew over the Asheville Plant and made the following observations:[42]

“

The Asheville coal plant is right next to the airport, which fortunately was not too busy. The lighting was pretty flat, with a good bit of snow on the ground. Amazingly, there were nice houses right under the ash ponds. The volume of crud in these things is staggering. If that earthen dyke bursts (there was nice steam coming off the water, which will someday perfectly illustrate a story on thermal pollution from power plants), that entire neighborhood will literally be buried by this poison-laden slurry.

A report released by EarthJustice and the Sierra Club in early February 2011 stated that there are many health threats associated with a toxic cancer-causing chemical found in coal ash waste called hexavalent chromium. The report specifically cited 29 sites in 17 states where the contamination was found. The information was gathered from existing EPA data on coal ash and included locations in Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Massachusetts, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virgina and Wisconsin. In North Carolina, the Dan River Steam Station in Eden, the Asheville Plant in Asheville and the Cape Fear Steam Plant in Montcure all were reported as having high levels of chromium seeping into groundwater.[43]

According to the report, hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) was reported at the Cape Fear unlined coal waste pond sites at 100 ppb (parts per billion) - 5,000 times the proposed California drinking water goals and at the federal maximum drinking water standard.[43] The coal waste sites associated with the Asheville Plant were 83 ppb - 4,150 times as high as California's drinking water goal, and 66% above North Carolina's groundwater standard.[43]

As a press release about the report read:

Hexavalent chromium first made headlines after Erin Brockovich sued Pacific Gas & Electric because of poisoned drinking water from hexavalent chromium. Now new information indicates that the chemical has readily leaked from coal ash sites across the U.S. This is likely the tip of the iceberg because most coal ash dump sites are not adequately monitored.[44]

According to the report, the electric power industry is the leading source of chromium and chromium compounds released into the environment, representing 24 percent of releases by all industries in 2009.[43]

Nuclear portfolio

Existing nuclear power stations

Crystal River Nuclear Plant, a single nuclear reactor unit rated at 838-MW is located near Crystal River, Florida, on a site that also includes four coal-fired generating units that generate 2,313 MW.

Harris Nuclear Plant, is a single nuclear reactor unit rated at 900-MW is located near New Hill, North Carolina.

Robinson Nuclear Plant is a single nuclear reactor unit rated at 710-MW and is located near Hartsville, South Carolina. The site also includes a coal-fired unit that generates 180 MW and a combustion turbine unit that generates 15 MW.

Troubled new Levy County nuclear project

In August 2009, the Florida Cabinet approved Progress Energy's proposal for a new nuclear plant in Levy County, north of Inglis. It would be "the first such plant approved in Florida in 33 years," reported the Miami Herald. "Progress seeks to raise its base rates by 30 percent to pay for the nuclear plant, which would not be up and running until at least 2018." [45]

By August of 2011, plant costs had risen from $8 billion to $20 billion and the timeline for construction had stretched out to at least 2021 (according to Progress), or possibly as late as 2027 (according to consumer advocates). As a result, advance payments by Florida consumers for the nuclear power plant were considered to be excessive by the state Office of Public Counsel and regulatory hearings were scheduled. [46][47]

Report: Progress Energy's nuclear plants not replacing coal

A 2011 report by NC Warn, "New Nuclear Power is Ruining Climate Protection Efforts and Harming Customers", argues that companies like Progress Energy have said they want to lead the way to a “low carbon” future by building more nuclear power plants, but instead of replacing their coal-burning plants with nuclear power, the companies "plan to keep operating most or all of their coal plants indefinitely, while adding more nuclear (and fossil fuel) plants so they can expand electricity sales both within and outside the region."

The report states that "Progress Energy Florida plans to increase its generating capacity by a net 1,545 MW by 2020, bringing two new AP1000 reactors online, totaling 2,210 MW, at the Levy County site. That project is now delayed until after the 2020 planning horizon. PEF plans to retire two older coal-fired units totaling 869 MW, or about 38% of its coal capacity. However, those retirements could well be reversed for any of three reasons:

if delays and uncertainty continue with the company’s proposed nuclear project (recently a Florida regulator indicated that the project has been set back to a 2027 opening),

if CEO Bill Johnson repeats his recent announcement that in the Carolinas, he will alternatively burn coal and natural gas depending on contemporaneous prices, and

if Progress Energy adopts, as expected, the expansionist business model of Duke Energy, which is in the process of acquiring Progress Energy."[48]

Personnel

William D. Johnson is the Chief Executive Officer and President. According to Forbes magazine, Johnson receives $5.1 million per year in total salary and stock. He ranked 290 among U.S. CEOs in 2011. [49]

Occupational Safety

On Sept. 15, 2011, N.C. labor officials fined Progress Energy $31,500 for safety violations that contributed to the death of Corey Rogers, 24, who was killed March 15, 2011 by a hydrogen explosion while performing maintenance at the Sutton coal-fired plant near Wilmington, N.C. [50]